Love, War and Jaffa
by IndependentSpirit
Summary: On a distant world, as Colonel Jack O’Neill and Major Samantha Carter flee from the forces of Anubis and the rest of SG1 faces torture at the hands of Herak, the fate of the galaxy and, more importantly, Jack and Sam’s romantic future hang in the balance.
1. Two Missions, One Planet

Major Samantha Carter squinted her eyes to adjust them to the bright computer screen. Her lab was dark and the base was quiet. At three o'clock in the morning no one roamed the hallways, except the rare airman. Sam groaned and closed her eyes, letting her head drop onto her folded arms. She was getting nowhere with this highly advanced artifact SG-1 had found on P3X-920. She sat there in that position for an hour, drifting in and out of sleep, only to be jerked out of sleep by blaring sirens.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Sergeant Walter Harriman's voice boomed over the speakers. "Unscheduled off-world activation!"

Sam groggily looked at her clock which read 4:12 am. Saving what little progress she had on her computer, she hurried out of her lab and off to the control room.

"What do they want this early in the morning?" Sam asked yawning. _'Did I just say that? I've been hanging out with Jack O'Neill too much!' _Sam thought.

"It's the Tok'ra," Walter answered.

Sam looked up at the pool of shimmering blue light. Suddenly Jacob Carter came through, with one arm helping Master Bra'tac down the ramp. Bra'tac was covered in blood. A heavy stream ran down the side of his face and onto Jacob's robes. Sam rushed down the stairs and into the gate room as she heard Walter call for a medical team. Placing one arm around Bra'tac, she lightened her father's load.

"What happened?" Sam asked. She saw her father dip his head and knew that Selmack was taking over.

"We discovered that both Tok'ra and rebel Jaffa operatives were sent on separate missions on the same planet," Selmack informed Sam, as Dr. Janet Frasier and a medical team rushed in and lifted Bra'tac onto a stretcher. "Master Bra'tac had been caught and was being tortured. Jacob insisted that we abort this mission in order to save him and get him through the stargate."

"I'm gonna call the Colonel; I'm sure Walter has already informed General Hammond. Are you alright, Dad?" Sam asked.

"I'm fine, maybe a bruise here or there," Jacob responded, "Hey, you alright? You look tired," Jacob said, concerned.

"Fine," Sam lied. Giving her father a kiss on the cheek, she went up to the control room to call the Colonel. It was always fun to wake Jack from his slumber. Punching in the number, she let it ring. It had rung 12 times before Jack answered.

"O'Neill," barked the rather tired and cranky voice of Colonel Jack O'Neill.

"Sir, we need you on base," Sam said holding back a smile when she heard Jack groan.

"Carter?" he asked.

"Sir," Sam said firmly.

"You need me on base now?" he asked.

"Yes sir. My father just arrived with a rather beaten up Bra'tac," she said.

"Fercrin'outloud!" Jack mumbled. "Alright, I'll be there in a half hour,"

"See you then, sir," Sam replied.

Sam heard Jack hang up the phone and did the same.

"Major," said a familiar voice behind her. Sam jumped slightly before turning to face General George Hammond.

"Sir," she greeted.

"What do you know?" Hammond asked.

"Nothing much yet, sir. Only that the Tok'ra and free Jaffa were, unknown to each other, on the same planet and that Bra'tac got caught. My father risked his mission to save him," Sam replied.

"Alright," Hammond said, "go shower, and have breakfast before visiting Bra'tac," Hammond's eyes traveled down Sam's bloodied uniform, which Sam hadn't noticed until now.

"Yes sir," Sam said, turning and heading toward the women's locker room and shower.

On her way, Sam ran into Teal'c who was heading toward the infirmary.

"Are you injured MajorCarter?" Teal'c asked concerned.

"No, I'm fine," Sam grimaced. "It's not my blood,"

Teal'c nodded his head solemnly.

"Master Bra'tac's?" he asked, but sounded more like a statement.

"I'll meet you in the infirmary in a bit," Sam said, before continuing down the hall.

It took Sam twenty minutes to shower and dress. She was heading out of the locker room, when she spotted Jack getting out of the elevator with five large cups of coffee.

"Carter, help me with these will ya?" Jack asked and Sam hurried over to take a cup of coffee he was balancing on the carrying case, where the others rested comfortably.

"Sir?" Sam questioned.

"That's yours, the rest are the gang's and Jacob's. I'm getting tired of the crap they serve here," Jack replied.

"I'm sure Dad will appreciate it," Sam said smiling and taking a sip of her own coffee, which was exactly how she liked it. She was stunned that Jack remembered her favorite coffee.

"I thought I told you to get some sleep," Jack said as they continued down the hall towards the infirmary.

"Yes…..well, I was trying to make some headway with the artifact we found on P3X-920," Sam said sheepishly.

"Carter that can be done during the day you know," he replied, looking down at her disapprovingly.

"Yes, sir," she answered.

They arrived at the infirmary to see Dr. Janet Frasier standing over Bra'tac. She looked over at Jack and Sam and smiled.

"Colonel, I hope one of those coffees is for me," Janet said yawning.

Jack looked sadly down at his own coffee.

"Yeah, Doc. Pick a coffee, any coffee," Jack said.

Janet thankfully took a coffee and took a large swallow.

"Thanks, Colonel. Come see Bra'tac," Janet invited.

Bra'tac was lying unconscious on the hospital bed. The blood had been wiped away, and his wounds had been either stitched or bandaged. Jack frowned down at him.

"He gonna make a full recovery?" Jack asked.

"He will indeed, O'Neill," Teal'c said from were he sat by Bra'tac's side.

"Any more info on what happened?" Sam asked.

"Only what I told you; we still don't know why Bra'tac was on that mission," Jacob said coming over and taking a coffee from Jack. "Thanks, Jack,"

"And we won't know why 'till Bra'tac wakes up, right?" Jack said frowning down at the coffees.

"Right," Daniel said coming into the room and taking a coffee from Jack.

"Thank you, O'Neill," Teal'c added taking his own coffee.

Jack sighed looking down at the coffeeless drink holder sadly. Sam smiled and handed him her half-finished drink.

"You want the rest, sir?" she asked.

Jack's smile could have lit up the room.

"Thanks, Carter," he said sipping it and closing his eyes to enjoy the taste.

Jacob Carter looked at them disapprovingly, obviously not happy with them sharing saliva. Bra'tac groaned and opened his eyes, causing the room's occupants to turn toward him. Janet hurried across the infirmary to Bra'tac's bedside.

"How are you feeling Master Bra'tac?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Bra'tac reassured her with a small, pained smile.

Janet gave him a disbelieving look, before turning away to get a pain reliever. As Janet walked away, Jacob/Selmack turned to Bra'tac.

"How're you doing?" he asked.

"I am well," Bra'tac replied. "I am in your debt for saving my life,"

"Ohhh, no. I did it, because that's what friends do for each other," Jacob assured him.

"Okay," Jack said suddenly, "can we just skip all the I'm-your-friend-and-that's-what-friends-do triteness so I can ask one _small_ question?"

"What's that?" asked Jacob as Bra'tac slipped out of consciousness again.

"What was the mission _about_?" Jack asked curiously. Jacob sighed.

"I'm not sure this is the right place to discuss this," he said. "Perhaps we should call a briefing."

"Master Bra'tac will not recover in a short period of time," Teal'c informed the others. "Unless we want to exclude him from the meeting, we will have to have it here or postpone it indefinitely." Jacob nodded reluctantly.

"Alright," he said. "Our operatives have discovered that Anubis is building a new superweapon."

"_Another_ one?" Jack asked in surprise. "How many superweapons does this guy need?"

"One that hasn't been destroyed," Jacob said simply.

"Ah, good point there!" Jack replied.

"I was part of the team sent to the planet," Jacob explained. "Although our orders were to destroy the weapon at any cost, I ordered the mission aborted when we discovered they had Bra'tac. I knew how important he was to the Jaffa Rebellion…and to you guys, of course, so I rescued him and brought him here."

"What about the rest of the team?" asked Daniel. "Have they been captured by Anubis?"

"Hopefully not," Jacob answered. "They're under orders to gate back to the Tok'ra base as soon as they can and report what's happened."

"Why didn't _you_ go back to the Tok'ra base and report it yourself?" Jack asked.

"We couldn't risk the Jaffa soldiers seeing the address for the planet," Jacob explained, "so we reasoned that, since you have an iris, it wouldn't hurt if they saw the combination."

"So what happens now?" Sam asked. "Are you still going to destroy the weapon?"

"Of course we are!" Jacob said immediately. "We cannot allow Anubis to complete it. If the rest of the team reports back, a representative of the Tok'ra High Council will be sent here. The weapon is…closer to completion than we thought and much harder to destroy. With the assistance of the Tau'ri, we will stand a much better chance."

"Okay," Jack replied, "but we're going to need General Hammond's approval."

"And you have it," a voice said and they all turned to see General Hammond walk into the room. "If this weapon is as powerful as Jacob says it is, we clearly cannot allow Anubis to finish it."

"We also cannot allow so many free Jaffa to die at the hands of Anubis," a gruff voice said. Everyone turned to see that Master Bra'tac had awoken again.

"Why do you speak of free Jaffa?" asked Teal'c.

"A Jaffa told us that he had gathered a large army on a distant planet in support of our cause," Bra'tac explained. "However, he was liar and a servant of Anubis. When we went through the gate, we were immediately captured and overwhelmed by his forces. We were many, but they were more."

"How much more?" Jack asked curiously.

"I did not endeavor to count their numbers," Bra'tac explained. "I only knew that they were so many that we did not stand a chance. Teal'c, we must return to the planet with the Tau'ri and free our Jaffa brothers and sisters."

"What does Anubis want with you all anyway?" Sam asked curiously.

"He is forcing us to build a new weapon that will increase his power among the System Lords," Bra'tac explained. "We must free them and destroy this weapon!"

"Uh, I don't mean to be negative here," Jacob said, cutting in, "but it may not be possible to rescue the Jaffa before we'll be forced to destroy the weapon."

"You would sacrifice over a hundred free Jaffa you have had the courage to turn against the false god they were forced to serve?" asked Bra'tac. Jacob blinked suddenly and Selmack took over.

"We, of course, do not wish to destroy anyone opposed to the Goa'uld," he said, "but we may have to make some sacrifices. We simply cannot allow Anubis to complete this new weapon."

"Teal'c," Bra'tac said, breathing heavily, "your son Rya'c is among the Jaffa captured."

"Is the life of one Jaffa worth more than the billions that would be killed by Anubis' new weapon?" asked Selmack.

"Well, we should at least attempt a rescue," Daniel interjected. "I mean, the Jaffa are one of our best allies against the Goa'uld."

"No one's denying that," said Jacob, who was back in control, "but what should we do if it comes down to a choice between saving the Jaffa and destroying the weapon."

"Well…" said Daniel, who was always uncomfortable making this kind of choice.

"We'll just cross the bridge when we come to it," Jack said brightly. Everyone looked at him and he smiled slightly.

"That we will," General Hammond said. "I want a mission plan by the end of day."

"Yes, sir," Sam said.

"I'll get on that right after I wake up fully, sir," Jack replied.

The General smiled and left the infirmary. Jack stood there a moment, before turning and heading for the door.

"I'm gonna go get some food," he called over his shoulder.

"I'll come with you," Daniel said following him out of the infirmary.

"You going to be alright, Bra'tac?" Sam asked placing her hand on his shoulder.

Bra'tac smiled and covered her hand with his, patting it gently.

"I will," he said softly, looking as if was about to fall unconscious again, "and I thank you for your concern and strong willingness to help our cause,"

"As do I, MajorCarter," Teal'c added.

Sam smiled before placing her arm around her father and walking out of the infirmary with him.

"How long can you stay after this is solved?" she asked her father.

"Not long," Jacob said glumly. "Only a few days; I'm sorry,"

"It's alright, Dad, I understand," Sam said trying to mask her disappointment.

"I'm sorry kiddo, if I could stay here for a month you know I would, but I can't," Jacob said reading her ineffectively hidden disappointment.

"Dad, really, it's fine," Sam reassured him.

Jack and Daniel stood in the breakfast line waiting to help themselves to food. Jack didn't take anything until the got to the desserts section.

"Um…Jack? You're having cake for breakfast," Daniel pointed out as Jack helped himself to a large piece of chocolate cake.

"Good observation, Daniel," Jack said sarcastically, as he took his cake and coffee back to their table and sitting down, "I hadn't noticed!"

"I'm just saying that maybe you wouldn't be so grumpy all the time if you had a well-balanced and nutritious breakfast," Daniel commented, pushing up his glasses as he followed Jack and sat down across from him, with his own toast and fruit breakfast.

"Daniel!" Jack said, "I don't really care."

Jack took a large, happy bite out of his chocolate cake and downed his coffee, making a face and shuddering. Daniel watched him, somewhat amused.

"Jack?" Daniel asked suddenly.

"Daniel?" Jack said looking up from his food.

"Would we really purposely cause the deaths of hundreds of rebel Jaffa just to destroy one weapon?" he asked.

"A _super_weapon," Jack reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But would we?" he asked

Jack thought for a second before answering.

"Yeah," he said simply, before looking down at his cake, stabbing it with his fork, now feeling not so hungry.


	2. Long Time, No See

Author's Note:

This is my first ever fanfiction so I'd appreciate any advice all of you really good writers may have. Please review.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Stargate. If I did Sam and Jack would be together, living happily ever after!

-----

"Receiving Tok'ra IDC," Walter said, looking at the signal coming in on his computer monitor.

"Open the iris," General Hammond said immediately and Walter obliged. The iris opened and Anise walked in with several other members of the Tok'ra. Ten minutes later, they were in the briefing room with Hammond, SG-1 and Jacob.

"Long time, no see! So, where have you been?" Jack asked her. "We haven't seen you in…oh, three years."

"I have been busy with my archaeological studies," Anise explained. "However, I still pledge my allegiance to the Tok'ra."

"Yes, you do that," Jack responded. "Go pledge!"

"I have discussed Selmack's proposal with the Tok'ra High Council," she continued.

"Proposal?" Sam asked curiously.

"I had the returning members of my party recommend to the Council that we try to rescue the imprisoned Jaffa," Jacob explained.

"Yes and the Council has reached a decision," Anise informed them. "They have decided that, as we have no equivalent, we will require one of your nuclear warheads."

"Whoa, I don't think so!" Jack replied immediately.

"Preferably with a naquadah enhancement," Anise continued as though the Colonel had not said anything.

"May I ask what for?" General Hammond asked in a considerably more civil tone than Jack.

"We, of course, wish to use it to destroy Anubis' new weapon," Anise explained briskly.

"You are aware that there are innocent Jaffa enslaved on the planet," Daniel pointed out. "I mean, shouldn't you at _least_ try to rescue them first?"

"The Tok'ra High Council has determined that rescuing them would be too great a risk," Anise explained. "Delaying much longer may give Anubis enough time to complete the weapon."

"But the Jaffa are building it," Daniel pointed out, "so if we freed them, there wouldn't be anyone to build it, right?"

"The risk is too great," she stated firmly, "and I believe one of your nuclear warheads was successful in destroying Ra's Ha'tak."

"Yeah, well, that was different," Daniel said at once.

"There were many innocent slaves aboard Ra's ship," Anise pointed out. "You must have seen them when you were brought aboard."

"Yeah, but the bomb was rigged," Jack said, "so if we _didn't_ ring it up to his ship, we would have all been killed."

"Many more will die if this weapon is completed," Anise answered. "The Council has decided the Jaffa are a reasonable sacrifice."

"Sounds like the old Tok'ra-Jaffa hatred coming up again," Jack said bitterly.

"This has nothing to do with the unnecessary contempt many in the Tok'ra hold for the Jaffa," Anise said indignantly. "I myself am sickened by their attitude."

"Would you be wanting to nuke the weapon so much if it was being built by an army of Tok'ra?" asked Jack.

"Yes, we would," Anise replied. "You may recall that we wished to destroy Ne'tu even though you, Selmack and Lantash were trapped there."

"Well, couldn't you at least give us a chance," Daniel insisted. "You know, maybe give us…twenty-four hours to rescue them or something."

"I cannot make decisions on the behalf of all the Tok'ra without consulting the Council," Anise replied. "I may take it up with them if you wish."

"Okay, I wish," Daniel replied.

Jack smirked at Daniel, before turning to General Hammond.

"Honestly, General, how much say do we have in this? Let's make a deal. We'll give them a nuke, if and only if, we can take our jolly good time in freeing the rebel Jaffa," Jack suggested, "because if we _don't_ give them a nuke then they're stuck and we can go free the Jaffa and destroy the weapon ourselves which will ultimately produce the same results." Jack smiled smugly at Anise.

"I agree with O'Neill," said Teal'c, speaking up.

"Only because your kid's there," Jacob said.

"And would you carry out this plan if MajorCarter were being held as a prisoner and a slave?" Teal'c asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jacob was silent for a moment before speaking.

"I don't know," he said.

"I'll think about both ideas," Hammond said, "until then, you're dismissed,"

Everyone rose to leave and Anise disappeared down the stairs to head back to the Tok'ra base. Before anyone else could depart, however, an airman ran into the room.

"General, Dr. Frasier insists you and SG-1 come down to the infirmary right away," he panted.

"Alright," Hammond said and with that he followed Teal'c out of the briefing room.

When they arrived in the infirmary the first thing everyone noticed was that Bra'tac was no longer in his hospital bed. In fact, he was no longer in the infirmary at all. Dr. Frasier appeared from the OR and walked over toward them.

"What's the emergency, Doctor?" General Hammond asked.

"We discovered that Master Bra'tac had developed internal bleeding and had to take him to the OR," Janet said gravely. "I'm sorry."

Teal'c bowed his head and Sam bit her lip.

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Daniel, concerned.

"I don't know," Janet said, shaking her head.

About an hour and a half later, the SGC received a communiqué from the Tok'ra. Jack, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and Hammond all gathered in the control room to hear the verdict of the Tok'ra High Council.

"I have relayed Dr. Jackson's request to the Tok'ra High Council," Anise explained on the transmission. "They have decided to give you twelve hours in which to free the rebel Jaffa. In exchange, we expect you to send a nuclear warhead through your gate to us. If you refuse, we will destroy the weapon on our own, which will require a lengthier method, but which will be nonetheless effective."

"Did it occur to you that we could just go to the planet and free the Jaffa _ourselves_?" Jack asked her.

"Not if we don't give you the address of the planet," Anise replied rather smugly.

"You know, on Earth this is what we call _extortion_," Jack told her.

"Actually, sir, extortion is the obtaining of property from another by —" Sam began, but Jack cut her off.

"I don't understand," Daniel said. "Couldn't you just haul the weapon out into space and blow it up there?"

"Selmack, you didn't tell them?" Anise asked rather angrily.

"Dad," Sam said turning to her father. He took a deep breath.

"Part of the reason the mission was aborted was that we couldn't find the weapon," he explained. "I — I didn't tell you before because it was, uh, embarrassing and I didn't think it was that important."

"So, what are you going to do since you couldn't find it?" Daniel asked curiously.

"The Tok'ra have since determined the weapon's location," Anise said. "We have discovered that, in fact, the entire is planet is the weapon." Everyone looked at each other with alarm. Eventually, Hammond leaned towards the speaker.

"We will send a warhead immediately," he said.

"General —" Daniel began.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Jackson, but I'm out of options," Hammond replied. "If you can get all the Jaffa off the planet in twelve hours, the moral issues will be moot." Daniel hesitated, but then nodded.

"I understand, General," he said reluctantly.

"Colonel O'Neill," Hammond said, turning to Jack, "have your team geared up and ready to move out ASAP." Jack nodded and headed out of the control room followed by the rest of SG-1.


	3. Through the Gate

Author's Note: I'm sorry about the wait. I've been trying to submit this chapter since Tuesday, but kept getting an error message. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Stargate. If I did Sam and Jack would be together, living happily ever after!

-----

SG-1 and Jacob stepped through the Stargate onto the planet designated P6X-467 into a lush forest.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Jack asked Jacob. "I mean, you'd think there'd at least be some Jaffa here to guard the gate."

"I'm sure," Jacob said solemnly. "Just look up." The members of SG-1 looked up to see innumerable black dots floating in the sky.

"Whoa, what are those?" asked Daniel.

"They're Goa'uld motherships," Jacob explained matter-of-factly.

"_All_ of them?" Sam asked incredulously. "My God, there could be thousands!"

"Yeah," Jacob agreed.

"You know, this counts as a _surprise_," Jack told Jacob. "I think I've told you how I feel about Tok'ra surprises, haven't I?"

"Yes, you have, Jack," Jacob replied in exasperation. "I just forgot to mention it."

"You forgot to mention _this_!" Jack repeated incredulously. "Just like you forgot to mention the weapon was the _entire planet_!"

"I didn't know the weapon was the entire planet until Anise told us," Jacob responded. "I just overheard Herak telling Anubis that the weapon would be ready in —"

"_Anubis_ is here!" Jack asked in outrage.

"Well, not anymore," Jacob explained. "He just stopped by. Herak is now temporarily in control."

"Thanks, I feel _much_ better!" Jack said sarcastically.

"Sir, don't we have a mission here?" Sam interrupted. Jack turned around to look at her for a moment.

"Oh, right," he said as though just remembering this, "Okey, doeky. Move out,"

They had gone about a mile into the forest when Jack stopped.

"Sir?" Sam asked.

"Do we know where the rebel Jaffa camp is?" he asked turning to Daniel.

"Well, um….." Daniel began hesitantly.

"Daniel…" Jack pressed.

"Well, we never got a chance to ask Bra'tac since he had to go into surgery and Jacob has no clue, so…" he glanced up at Jack's stern stare, "no,"

Jack looked from Daniel, to Teal'c, to Jacob, to Carter as if hoping that one of them would know. When his eye met Sam's, he found he couldn't tear his gaze.

"Well, I was thinking that it can't be much further then a couple of miles because the area near the Stargate is the only inhabited part of the planet," Jacob began before realizing that Jack wasn't listening, but staring at Sam a little too intensely. "Ummm…..Jack!" he said loudly.

"Yeah?" Jack replied, turning sharply away from Sam.

"Did you listen to a word I said?" Jacob asked.

"Sure," Jack replied flippantly, "just not all of them."

Jacob gave him a disbelieving look before turning to Teal'c.

"Our top priority is to get your son Rya'c. If we can't get the rest of the Jaffa out, hopefully we'll at least have him," he said.

Teal'c bowed his head.

"I believe in free Jaffa; I hope that we are able to relocate all through the Stargate," he said.

"Hear, hear," Jack said. "Now let's keep moving; the deadline's twelve hours."

"Actually, now it's down to eleven hours and forty-five minutes," Sam pointed out, looking at her watch.

"Ah!" Jack interrupted. "Let's not think about that! Let's just keep walking." Sam shrugged.

"Alright, sir," she said.

They hiked through the heavy underbrush of the forest for the next ten minutes before they heard yelling, and people crying out in pain.

"I think we found it," Jack said, laying by a bush and taking the binoculars Sam passed to him.

As he took them, their hands brushed against each others and both felt the electricity, which caused Sam to quickly pull her hand away. Jack looked at her a moment, before turning back to spy on the labor camp.

Looking through the binoculars, he quickly spotted Rya'c and pointed him out to the others, who were on the ground beside him.

"Okay…so what's our plan?" Jack asked.

"Ummm….we rescue the Jaffa," Daniel suggested.

Jack gave him a look.

"Anyone want to go into more detail?" he asked.

"We should go in during nightfall," Jacob said. "It would probably be the best time to free all of them without being caught."

"What about the ever-impending time limit?" Daniel asked rather nervously.

"It should be dusk in only about a half an hour," Jacob replied. "That should give us plenty of time."

"Sir," Sam added, "if we all take positions around the camp, we would have a better view of what's going on."

Jack thought about it for a moment.

"Alright. Teal'c you go to the north side. Daniel and Jacob, east side and Carter, you'll stay with me. Keep in radio contact," Jack ordered.

"I take it we're hoping nothing will happen at the west side," Daniel said wryly.

"That's where the main entrance is," Jacob told him.

"Oh," Daniel said tersely as he picked up his gear as did Jacob and Teal'c. Teal'c bowed his head before leaving.

"See ya all in a while," Jack said as they departed.

Sam and Jack watched them as they disappeared into the shrubbery.

"Now what?" Sam asked.

"We wait," he replied.


	4. In the Dark

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, but hopefully it'll make up for the wait. And please review, review, review!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Stargate. If I did Sam and Jack would be together, living happily ever after!

-----

Darkness was slow to fall as Sam and Jack sat waiting. They were silent, not saying a word to each other, as Jack absentmindedly played with a small rock and Sam's eyes watched it pass from one hand to another, transfixed.

"How much time left?" Jack asked suddenly, causing Sam to jump, and quickly look at her watch.

"Fifteen minutes, sir," she replied.

Jack nodded, before turning to look at her.

"Ya know, you can call me Jack instead of sir," he said.

"Yes, sir," she replied automatically. "I — I mean, uh, no, I don't think I really could…Colonel."

"Why not?" Jack asked.

"It would make me uncomfortable," Sam said.

"You call Daniel by his name," Jack said.

"He's not my CO, sir, and he's not military" Sam pointed out.

Jack nodded and there was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"How much time left?" Jack asked again, reminding her of a young child endlessly uttering 'Are we there yet?' on a long trip.

"Thirteen minutes, sir," she replied with a smile.

Jack went back to playing with the rock and Sam turned her head to look around.

"Why would it make you uncomfortable?" he asked suddenly.

Sam was silent for a minute, avoiding eye contact, but could feel his eyes watching her.

"It's a little too…" Sam struggled for the right word, "intimate to be on a first name basis with your commanding officer," she said.

"Intimate?" he questioned.

"Not….romantically intimate, sir," Sam replied blushing and bowing her head so he couldn't see her face.

"Right, of course not," Jack said shaking his head. "We wouldn't want to be romantically involved."

"No, we wouldn't," Sam agreed.

"Really?" Jack asked after a minute.

"Sir?" she asked confused.

"I mean, if things were different…." he trailed off.

"If there weren't fraternization regulations…."Sam started.

"Yeah…would there be a chance? For us, I mean," Jack said awkwardly.

"I…." Sam began but was cut off by the sound of Daniel's voice blaring out of Jack's radio.

"Uhhh….Sam, Jack, you there?" he said.

Jack groaned and Sam bit her lip.

"WHAT!" Jack asked annoyed.

"Umm….you said to stay in radio contact. Are you okay?" Daniel asked.

"We're fine, Daniel," Sam said in a considerably friendlier tone.

"Ohh…okay," Daniel said, sounding rather confused. "Daniel out then,"

"He has the worst timing," Jack said.

"Perhaps he has the best," Sam said.

Jack nodded, watching her closely. Sam cast her eyes down, embarrassed. Sighing, he began to look through his pack for his dark clothing. Taking the hint, Sam did the same.

"I gotta change…" he said.

"Me too," Sam replied.

"I'll stay in radio contact," Jack said.

"Yes, sir," she answered.

Jack disappeared into the darkness of the forest and Sam radioed Daniel, her father and Teal'c to start getting ready, before changing herself.

A couple minutes later her radio blared and Jack asked her if she was decent. After answering in the affirmative, he appeared out of the darkness and stood watching her.

"What's the plan sir?" she asked.

After crouching down, they crawled over to the edge of the hill to look down at the labor camp. Sam held out the binoculars, which Jack took and began scanning for Rya'c. After spotting him going into a barracks tent, he radioed the others to confirm the location for his rescue.

"Alright, let's go," he said to Sam and radioed the others that it was time to move out. He and Sam crept down towards the tent when they bumped into something — the staff weapon of a Jaffa guard.

"Aray kree!" he shouted, pointing his weapon at them.

"Yeah, whatever," Jack said. "You know," he added, placing a finger on the Jaffa's breastplate, "you've got something on your armor." The Jaffa looked down and Jack poked him in the nose.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Jaffa asked sternly.

"Oh, nothing," Jack said, "it's just to distract you until my friends come by to save us." Right after he spoke, the Jaffa was hit by the energy from a zat — a zat being held by Teal'c.

"Thanks, Teal'c!" he said. "Perfect timing, unlike _some_ people," he added, giving Daniel a look. Daniel looked like he was about to say something, but he apparently changed his mind.

"You are welcome, O'Neill," Teal'c said as he lowered his weapon. With that, the five of them continued down to the tent where they found Rya'c, about to go to sleep.

"Father!" he exclaimed, overjoyed. "I knew you would manage to rescue us."

"I did not share your confidence," Teal'c answered. "In fact, I am still uncertain of the success of this mission."

"How many Jaffa does Anubis have guarding the camp?" asked Selmack.

"Nine," Rya'c replied simply.

"_Nine?_" Jack asked incredulously. "There are _hundreds_ of Jaffa imprisoned here and they have _nine_ guards."

"They have weapons and we do not," Rya'c explained.

"Okay, well, we have weapons and we already took one out," Jack said. "That should leave eight."

"I only shot the guard once," Teal'c said matter-of-factly. SG-1 turned around to see the guard had gotten up and was heading right at them. Jack shot him twice, disintegrating him.

"Okay, eight now," Jack said. "Now, let's get the rest of them."

SG-1, Jacob and Rya'c quickly took out the other eight Jaffa, as Rya'c knew where they were standing guard. Soon, they and all the Jaffa from the labor camp were heading back to the gate.

"Jack, don't you think this was a little too easy?" Daniel asked him.

"Too easy?" Jack asked.

"Well, yeah," Daniel explained. "I mean, anyone with a zat could take out nine Jaffa and there are no Jaffa guarding the gate."

"I just thought we were that good," Jack said dismissively.

"Jack, I'm serious," Daniel insisted. "I think this is some kind of a set-up."

"Sir, I think he's right," Sam interjected. "It's possible one of these Jaffa is an agent for Anubis or something."

"Well, what d'you want me to do?" Jack asked. "Leave them here?"

"Well, no," Daniel said immediately, "I—I just thought that…we should think about it."

"Okay, Daniel, I'll think about it," Jack said as they reached the gate, "now dial us home."

Daniel reached forward to press in the symbol for the constellation Auriga on the DHD, but the symbol didn't light up and the corresponding chevron didn't engage. He pushed the symbol again several times, but nothing happened.

"The gate's not working," he told the others.

"What d'you mean it's not working?" Jack asked him. "It _has_ to work."

"Well, it's not," Daniel said simply.

"Let me take a look at that," Sam said, stepping forward to look at the devise. "Well, there's no evident damage — it should work."

"Don't you say that I didn't tell you so," Daniel told Jack out of the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah," Jack agreed, "and don't you say that you told me so…whatever that means."

Sam, meanwhile, had begun taken apart the DHD.

"There's no control crystal," she said suddenly. Jack turned to look at Jacob.

"And the Tok'ra didn't think _this_ was worthy of mention?" he asked incredulously.

"I assure you the Tok'ra had no knowledge of this," Jacob informed them. "If it had been damaged while we were here, we would not have been able to return to our base."

"Oh, right," Jack said.

"Anubis must have had the control crystal removed so we wouldn't be able to dial home," Sam explained. "That would explain why there are no Jaffa guarding the gate."

"So what are we gonna do?" Daniel asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Sam said. "The MALP showed the DHD to be intact, so I didn't bring along a naquadah generator."

"Okay, can we _always_ bring a naquadah generator from now on?" Jack asked her.

"Yes, sir," Sam agreed promptly, "if we get out of here."

"_If?_" Jack asked incredulously.

"Well, sir, we have to face the possibilty that we may not be able to get back," Sam replied briskly. "I mean, every time we step through the Stargate there's a chance we won't return in one —"

Sam was cut off when five rings shot out of the ground right in front of the DHD. When they disappeared back into the ground, five Anubis guards, armed with staff weapons, were standing before them. From behind a nearby hill, hundreds of Jaffa appeared — they were hopelessly outnumbered.

"Put down your weapons, Colonel!" one of the Anubis guards that had ringed down said in a vaguely familiar voice. SG-1 relucantly complied. The helmet of the guard retracted to reveal a face they had last seen in a Kelownan bunker.

"Colonel O'Neill," Herak said darkly, "Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, the Tok'ra Selmack and the shol'va Teal'c."

"Yes, that's us!" Jack said proudly. "It's so _nice_ that you remember who we are so well. Pity I keep forgetting who _you_ are — I guess you're just not as _important_ as we are."

"I am Herak," Herak said coldly, "First Prime to Lord Anubis. It's a position many Jaffa would _kill_ for."

"Yes, well, I want to kill you and it has nothing to do with that," Jack told him. "I just don't like you — no, wait, I take that back — I _hate_ you." Herak smiled smugly.

"I take it you are here to rescue these Jaffa from certain death," he said.

"Yes, we are," Jack told him. "I take it you're here to kill us."

Herak's smile widened.

"Death would be a pleasant fate compared to what awaits you aboard Anubis' vessel," he said nastily.


	5. Death would be a Pleasant Fate

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Stargate. If I did Sam and Jack would be together, living happily ever after!

-----

"You know," Jack said, reaching toward Herak's armor, "you've got something on your —" Before he could finish, he was hit with the butt of a staff weapon and knocked onto the ground, where he found several staffs pointed at him.

"Okay, this is _not_ good," he said dryly. Teal'c, meanwhile, stepped forward towards Herak.

"Herak, hear me," he said. "Anubis is a false god. You can join the Jaffa rebellion and be free."

"I am First Prime of Anubis," Herak said firmly. "I have no desire to abandon my powerful position at Anubis' side."

"I know that, as First Prime, you are just as much a slave as any other Jaffa serving the Goa'uld," said Teal'c. "You are not powerful, Herak, you merely carry out your master's orders. Join us and together we can free our brothers and sisters from the oppression of the Goa'uld."

"Lord Anubis is a god," Herak stated.

"He is not," Teal'c told him. "He is a parasite inside a human body."

"An Ascended human body," Daniel added.

"A parasite inside an Ascended human body," Teal'c corrected.

"Well, half-Ascended," Daniel quickly interjected, "and he may not have had a human host when he was alive."

"The point is he's not a god," Jack finished triumphantly.

"Enough!" Herak shouted. "Anubis is a god and I will not abandon him as you abandoned your god, shol'va."

"Then I guess we'll just have to kill you," Jack said and, with that, he grabbed his gun, which was lying on the ground nearby, and fired it several times at Herak. Jack was hit with a staff blast as a battle erupted between Anubis' Jaffa and the rebel Jaffa.

"Colonel!" Sam yelled, running towards Jack, who appeared to be severely injured.

Since Anubis' Jaffa had staffs and zats, the "battle" was very one-sided and it was only a matter of time before they scored an overwhelming victory. Teal'c, Jacob and an unconscious Daniel were captured and brought up to Anubis' ship with the ring transporter. Sam, however, had managed to pull the injured Jack into some nearby undergrowth..

"Sir, are you all right?" she asked him.

"Well, that's a rhetorical question if there ever was one," Jack quipped in response.

"We have to go far away from here or Anubis' Jaffa will eventually find us," Sam told him matter-of-factly. "Can you walk?"

"Do I _look_ like I can walk, Carter?" he asked her sardonically.

"No sir," Sam answered and Jack gave her a look at the mention of 'sir'.

"Help me up, will ya?" Jack asked and Sam slowly helped him up from the ground.

Jack grimaced and gave out a small moan of pain as he placed an arm around Sam's shoulder and she helped him through the dense forest that surrounded them.

"Got any weapons?" he asked as they continued their journey.

"Two guns and a zat," Sam replied.

"You think you can manage to get the gate up and working?" he asked, closing his eyes in pain.

"Not without a naquadah generator sir," Sam said gravely.

When Sam thought they had gotten far enough away for the moment, she helped Jack sit down against a large tree and began to examine the extent of his injuries. He had a few nasty gashes on his shoulder and leg, and one large gaping wound on his side. Sam bit her lip and went to work bandaging them.

"That's the best I can do sir," Sam said when she was through.

"Can you just…drop the 'sirs' Carter?" he asked squinting his eyes against the pain, "please," he added.

Sam was silent a minute and Jack was sure she was going to refuse again.

"Come on," she said at last, " we don't want Anubis's army to find us, do we Jack?"

Jack smiled a pained, but genuine smile, and allowed Sam to help him up.

Daniel awoke to find himself resting in a dark cell, which was undoubtedly aboard Anubis' ship. He laid his head back down in despair. They had failed and now all the Jaffa on P6X-467 were going to disappear in one big nuclear explosion. And what was going to happen to him? _"Death would be a pleasant fate compared to what awaits you aboard Anubis' vessel,"_ Herak had said. That didn't sound particularly encouraging.

Daniel didn't have much time to ponder what this fate might be, because, at the next moment, his cell door opened and Herak walked in with two other Jaffa guards.

"I thought Jack shot you," Daniel said vaguely. He wasn't thinking straight.

"Anubis revived me with the sarcophagus," Herak explained. "How could he not be a god if he can revive the dead?" Daniel was too overwhelmed to answer.

"Although O'Neill and the woman you call Carter have thus far eluded capture," Herak continued, "they only condemn themselves to death."

"I thought you said death would be a pleasant fate compared to, uh, what you'll do to us," Daniel said. "Then wouldn't that make it better for them?"

"Perhaps," Herak agreed. "However…they will be destroyed by your weapon."

"What?" Daniel asked in surprise. "Y-you know about that and you're not going to stop it? What about your weapon?"

"The planet is not weapon," Herak said smugly. "The weapon will be provided by the Tok'ra."

"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"Anubis gave the Tok'ra the lie that this planet was a superweapon so that they would destroy it for them," Herak explained. "The motherships you saw orbiting the planet are, in fact, the combined forces of the System Lords. Anubis has called a summit for the System Lords and they have left their fleets orbiting this planet. With the naquadah in the Stargate, the explosion will annilihate the entire planet and all the ships orbittting it. Ironic, isn't it? That the Tok'ra, using a weapon of the Tau'ri, will finally solidify Anubis's rightful position as supreme ruler of this galaxy." Daniel was too shocked to say anything for a moment.

"So, why are you telling me this?" he asked eventually.

"To take away your hope," Herak replied, smiling evilly.


	6. Trapped and Helpless

Author's Note: OMG! Wow! It's been a while. Sorry 'bout that, but you know summer, lots to do! So enjoy and review!

"You _must_ beileve that Anubis is a god," Herak said proudly. "Only a god could have created such a clever plan to use his enemies to his own advantage."

"Oh, _please_," Daniel replied sardonically, "a _teenager_ could come up with with that plan. Besides, if he's a god, why does he need the Tok'ra to destroy his competing 'gods?'"

"What you say is blasphemy!" Herak shouted. "I will not hear of it!"

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to," Daniel told him. "If you kill me, you'd just bring me back with the sarcophagous anyway, so I can say whatever I want." Herak seemed to consider this, but not for long.

"It doesn't matter!" he said angrily. "You will be tortured horribly — killed and revived with the sarcophagus hundred and hundreds of times — and then you will be handed over to Anubis. He will use a mind probe on you to learn all the secrets of the Tau'ri."

"Well," Daniel said, "you may find a _little_ snag in that I don't actually know _all_ the secrets of the Tau'ri."

"If you reveal to us what we wish to know," Herak continued as though Daniel had not said anything, "you will still be tortured — for pleasure. However, you may yet be saved from the mind probe if you answer my questions now."

"That doesn't make any sense," Daniel pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to trust anything I say, so you'd have to use the mind probe anyway, so, since you've already said you would still torture me, it wouldn't make any difference whether I tell you anything now or not." Herak glared at Daniel for a moment.

"Have it your way, Dr. Jackson," he said eventually.

Jack and Sam had stumbled several miles into the dense forest when Jack collapsed, and Sam, unable to hold him up, collapsed with him. They sat on the ground with Jack breathing heavily. In the distance they heard the sound of the horn that was blown by Anubis's army. Jack groaned and bit his lip hard drawing blood.

"Carter, get out of here," he said.

Sam stood and offered her arm out to him, but he shook his head.

"No, Carter. I said get out of here. I'm weighing you down," Jack explained.

"No way," Sam said wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Carter…GO!" Jack said harshly.

"We never leave a man behind!" Sam said.

They heard the horn again, closer this time.

"You want me to make it an order? Fine, get out of here, that's an order," Jack said wincing in pain, "Get to the gate, and wait for the regular scheduled check in. When Hammond calls give him my regards, have him send in a generator and get the heck out of here!"

"Jack!" Sam said.

"Go!" he shouted as another blowing of the horn was heard.

Sam was silent a minute looking around at the dark forest that surrounded them.

"No," she said simply, turning back to face him.

"What?" Jack asked angrily.

"No, Jack, I'm not leaving," she said again.

"Carter! I gave you an or…" but he never finished because at that moment Sam bent down and kissed him. Jack's eyes widened as a response, before he moaned and pulled away.

"Sam…" he started, but Sam gave him a look and kissed him again. This time he didn't pull away and soon took control of the kiss, because what he'd seen in Sam's eyes, mixed with fear and determination, was love. He saw his own love mirrored in her eyes, and that shocked him.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," Sam replied, tears blossoming in her eyes.

It was against the rules, but at that moment, sitting extremely injured on the cold, hard ground with an army of Jaffa closing in and the woman he loved in his arms, he didn't care.

Two Jaffa guards dragged Daniel into a dark chamber where Teal'c was chained against a wall. Herak fired a zat at Teal'c and then turned to smile smugly at Daniel.

"Now," he said, still pointing the zat at Teal'c, "you will tell us what we want to know or I will kill your friend."

"It wouldn't make any difference," Daniel responded solemnly. "You'd just bring him back with the sarcophagus anyway."

"Maybe we won't bring him back," Herak said snidely. "He is a shol'va, after all."

"He knows too much," Daniel persisted. "You wouldn't want all that information to go to waste, especially considering you have mind probes to get it."

"It would cause your friend unnecessary pain," Herak told him. "Pain he could be saved from if you tell me what I want to know."

"And what do you want to know?" asked Daniel.

"Now, I will only ask this once," Herak said firmly, "what is the sequence of numbers needed to open the barrier covering the Tau'ri Stargate?"

"What?" Daniel asked loudly. Herak looked annoyed.

"Tell me the numbers you send through the Chapa'ai before returning to your world," Herak repeated angrily.

"Oh, uh," said Daniel, thinking quickly, "H-E-R-A-K-I-S-A-N-I-D-I-O-T." Herak looked at Daniel for a moment.

"I have a limited understanding of your written language," he said, "but I know those are letters and not numbers."

"Really?" Daniel asked as though he had not known this.

Herak held up the zat to the unconscious Teal'c and shot him again. Although Daniel knew Teal'c would be brought back with the sarcophagus, it still made him feel agitated, although he tried to not let this show. Herak was still pointing his zat at Teal'c.

"If I shoot him again, he will be disintegrated," he said. "At that point, not even the sarcophagus could bring him back."

"You would never do that," Daniel insisted. "He's too valuable to you."

"Are you sure?" Herak asked nastily. "Are you willing to bet your friend's life on that presumption?" Daniel didn't know what to say — he was fairly certain Herak was bluffing, but what if he wasn't? What if he was really willing to destroy Teal'c?

"Tell us the numbers needed to open your iris," Herak said harshly, "or the shol'va will die permanently."


	7. Making Decisions

Author's Note: Hello again everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter and please, please review! Thanks!

Jack groaned in pain, but deepened the kiss, pulling Sam closer to him. It was only then, when the horn blew again that Sam returned to reality.

"Sir," Sam said, gasping for breath. "Are — are you sure we should be doing…this."

"I told you that you don't need to call me 'sir,'" Jack reminded her.

"I think I do," she insisted. "Um, sir, Colonel, d-do you realize what we're doing here."

"Carter," he said in a harsh voice, but stopped. "Sam," he said more gently, "you _are_ the one that started this." Sam looked a bit embarassed.

"I know," she said shyly, "but I'm having second thoughts."

"You know, you think _way_ too much," Jack replied. Sam considered this.

"Yeah, I probably do," she agreed.

"Okay, let _me_ do some thinking," Jack said. "The Tok'ra will send in the bomb, the planet will blow and we'll be particles floating in space. You'd probably know exactly what those particles would be, but I really don't care."

"And if we don't die?" Sam asked nervously. "You know we can't continue this if we survive."

"Why not?" he asked. "No one has to know."

"It's dishonest," she said. "Besides, our…feelings aren't exactly a secret. Remember we were forced to admit them to prove we weren't za'tarcs."

"Yeah, thanks to Anise's magical lie-detector," Jack quipped.

"Freya," Sam corrected.

"What, but I was sure it was Anise," Jack said.

"Freya's the host half of Anise," Sam explained.

"How do you remember this stuff?" he asked. "For that matter, _why_ do you remember this stuff?"

"Colonel…" she began. "Jack, this is serious. You know, we could end up in that same situation all over again. We can't go on hiding this — we have to do something."

"Look, we're probably about to die," he said. "Why don't we just enjoy the last few hours of our lives the way we've always wanted."

"_Always_ wanted?" Sam asked. She was trying to sound indignant, but her face turned bright red and gave her away.

"Sam…please…" he said gently.

"I'm — I'm not denying that…certain feelings exist between us," Sam said anxiously, "but don't you think we should think this through before we do something we might regret?" Jack seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Nah," he said eventually. He leaned forward and kissed her again. Despite her better judgement, Sam didn't resist it.

"How would you be able to know whether the IDC I tell you is the right one?" Daniel asked Herak. He was trying to buy himself more time.

"IDC?" asked Herak, confused.

"Iris indentification code," Daniel explained. "It's the code we send back through the gate that opens the iris. Well, actually, _it_ doesn't open the iris — it gets recognized by a computer on the other end and a technican called Sargeant Walter Harri—"

"Enough!" Herak shouted. "Tell me the code or your friend will die!"

"How will you know whether the code I tell you is accurate?" Daniel asked. "I mean, I think there's a little flaw in your plans considering there isn't an active Stargate on the planet."

"There is a gate aboard this ship," Herak explained.

"Really?" Daniel asked.

"Not that it would be of any help to you now," Herak said snidely.

"Yeah, I — I can see that," Daniel said. "I mean, you're holding a zat over my dead friend, Jack and Sam are stranded down on the planet, undoubtably struggling to survive, and Jacob's who-knows-where." Herak seemed rather confused that Daniel was agreeing with him, but he eventually went on.

"Yes," he said eventually. "After you give us the code, you will be shot once with a zat'nik'tel and brought through the gate along with an armada of Jaffa. If the code is incorecct, you will all hit the iris and die."

"But you would be able to take over the SGC?" Daniel asked. "Uh, sorry, but I think I'd die before giving you that code — and so would Teal'c. I won't tell you anything."

Herak looked harshly at him for a moment. For one moment, Daniel thought he might actually disintigrate Teal'c, but then he put the weapon down and turned to glare angrily at Daniel.

"Jaffa," he said to two guards, "revive the shol've in the sarcophagus and bring the Tok'ra Selmack. Kree!" The two Jaffa carried Teal'c out of the room.

Two others pushed Daniel against the wall, where they chained him up with the chains that they had used on Teal'c. Herak walked in front of him.

"You should hope that the Tok'ra cares more for you than you do for the shol'va," Herak said and, with that, he raised his zat and shot Daniel once.


End file.
